The present invention relates to the field of software-based services in communication networks. More particularly, it includes systems and methods for maintaining and utilizing routing data to handle event notifications generated by call handling in a service logic execution environment.
A service is a software application that is installed in a communication network to provide value added functions to subscribers. Subscribers are users of the communication network who subscribe to the services. Services control the network to perform value-added functions for subscribers based on provisioned data and network conditions. Service instance is a single run time instance of the service that provides the service functions to a subscriber. A service may include one or more service instances, which may be operating in different modes to handle different phases of providing the service. Service Logic Execution Environment (SLEE) is the run time environment in which a service executes. A SLEE is a new approach to the long-standing issue of how to supplement switches with intelligent capabilities. Sun Microsystems, Inc. has sponsored development of telecommunications computing standards, so that service logic execution environments will have open, non-proprietary architectures. The so-called JAIN SLEE standard reached the stage of public comment on 12 Aug. 2002, having gone through drafts prior to that. A SLEE is intended to support multiple services and accept software written by multiple vendors in compliance with one or more telecommunications computing standards.
Services are typically triggered by events, requests or messages (we shall use the terms event and event notification to refer to all of them) originating in the call processing system and other external systems, and some of the service execution platform provided services as well. Addresses are the identifiers that typically identify the subscribers associated with the events by points of call origination, destination or both. Addresses also may identify participants in a service other than the subscriber.
Traditionally, service execution platforms have been built to serve a single function on a proprietary platform, to deliver a single event or sequence the events from a single source to one service instance. Traditional platforms have associated a call or a sequence of events to a service instance and delivered all the events of that call or sequence to the same service instance. These special purpose platforms have worked well for stable services that support events from a single network. But special purpose platforms have proven cumbersome and expensive to modify and difficult for a support staff to integrate and maintain.
With the development and improved capabilities of wireless communications and the Internet, more and more services are being offered on multiple networks. For example, a simple voice service could serve subscribers whose calls originate from a land based telephone network, a wireless telephone network, and an the Internet connection. Similarly, a text-based chat room could serve subscribers calling in from a public telephone, using a web browser over the internet, sending/receiving Short Messages from a wireless phone, and sending/receiving email from a distribution list. Enhanced services for subscribers from multiple networks are so-called converged services.
Also, some applications require the creation of a new service instance on certain events. Others may require certain events to be handled by existing service instances, and some might require the same event to be handled by a newly created service instance or by an existing one depending on whether a service instance serving the subscriber exists.
In addition a service instance might not be associated with any subscriber or may be associated with one or multiple subscribers. For example, consider an enhanced service where the subscriber calls a global access number (like a corporate toll free number) and can access some global functions like stock price, press releases, directory and news and after authentication can access more personal services like voice mail, address book, calendar etc. or can join a group meeting or a discussion group. The service needs to handle global, subscriber specific, and subscriber shared service logic in the same service
Accordingly, there is an opportunity provide software components compliant with a telecommunications computing standard for a service logic execution environment, such as the emerging JAIN SLEE standard or a subsequent standard. In this new environment designed to support multiple types of service and multiple vendors, many components need to be developed to support development and execution of new services, for instance to support converged services in a flexible manner on a generic service execution platform like a SLEE, and to associate multiple calls, event sequences, requests and activities from distinct networks with particular service instances concurrently active on the SLEE.